ungainly

adjective

un·​gain·​ly ˌən-ˈgān-lē 

1

a

: lacking in smoothness or dexterity : clumsy

ungainly movements

b

: hard to handle : unwieldy

an ungainly contraption

2

: having an awkward appearance

a large ungainly bird

ungainliness noun

Did you know?

What do you have to gain by knowing the root of ungainly? Plenty. The gain in ungainly is an obsolete English adjective meaning "direct" that is ultimately derived from the Old Norse preposition gegn, meaning "against." (It is unrelated to the noun in "economic gains" or the verb in "gain an advantage"; those came to English by way of Anglo-French and are related to an Old High German word meaning "to hunt for food.") Ungainly can describe someone who is clumsy, as in "a tall, ungainly man"; or something that causes you to feel clumsy when you try to handle it, as in "a car with ungainly controls"; or something that simply looks awkward and out of place, as in "an ungainly strip mall."

Synonyms

• awkward
• bunglesome
• clumsy
• clunky
• cranky
• cumbersome
• cumbrous
• ponderous
• unhandy
• unwieldy

Examples of ungainly in a Sentence

He was tall and ungainly.

getting the ungainly couch up the stairs was a real chore

Recent Examples on the Web

Except when a whipping was required or when someone felt like ridiculing me for my ungainly height or my unfortunate hair or my dubious parentage. —Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024

The other featured a duck squawking out the ungainly acronym that gave Aflac its name. —Maria Aspan, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

obsolete gain direct, from Middle English gayn, geyn, from Old English gēn, from Old Norse gegn, from gegn, preposition, against; akin to Old English gēan- against — more at again

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

ungainly

adjective

un·​gain·​ly ˌən-ˈgān-lē 

: clumsy sense 1a, awkward

ungainliness noun